LOUISE BOURGEOIS: COMPLETE BOOKS & PRINTS

Themes:

Figures, Objects

Techniques:

Drypoint

Description:

Drypoint, with red and blue ink, and pencil additions

Support:

Smooth, wove Hahnemühle paper

Dimensions:

plate: 10 15/16 x 8 7/16" (27.8 x 21.5 cm); sheet: 15 3/8 x 11" (39 x 28 cm)

Signature:

"LB" right lower margin, blue ink.

Inscription:

Verso: "Grace Glueck / married someone on / the new Republic / Paul Gardner" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

Publisher:

unpublished

Printer:

Harlan & Weaver, New York

Edition:

1 known impression of version 1, state II

Impression:

Not numbered

Edition Information:

Proof before the editioning of version 2, state II.

State Changes and Additions:

Changes from version 1, state I, by burnishing: some details removed or altered.
Changes from version 1, state I, in drypoint: further shading and body parts added to some figures.

Background:

According to the Louise Bourgeois Studio, this image is based on Bourgeois's observation of people lining up on Saturday morning to receive packages of food from the rectory of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, located across the street from her home on West 20th Street. The artist also made a sculpture and a drypoint edition of the rectory building, both titled "The Rectory" and seen below as Related Works.

Artist’s Remarks:

Inscribed on the verso of the study: "les plus malheureux que toi" upper center sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "coude ou elbow / is moving." center sheet, pencil, artist's hand; "Crutches / bequilles [sic] / les boiteuses" lower right sheet, pencil, artist's hand.

Curatorial Remarks:

Grace Glueck and Paul Gardner are both American art critics and writers. Glueck wrote for The New York Times and served as the culture editor in the 1980s. Glueck and Gardner co-authored "Brooklyn: People and Places, Past and Present" in 1991. Gardner was a friend of Bourgeois and her husband, art historian Robert Goldwater. In 1994, Gardner published "Louise Bourgeois" a Universe Series on Women Artists book. Bourgeois was also featured in Gardner's 1996 documentary "Art City: Making It in Manhattan."

MoMA Credit Line:

Gift of the artist

MoMA Accession Number:

1068.2008

© The Easton Foundation/VAGA at ARS, NY